Boston Celtics: The good, the bad, and the ugly from loss to Timberwolves
By Ryan Cinque
The bad: Robert Williams III was outplayed by both of Minnesota’s big men
Robert Williams III has been great for the Boston Celtics this season. When he’s been healthy, he provides them with great rim protection, a crazy athletic lob threat, and great passing for a center.
Unfortunately, during Monday’s outing, Williams was unable to match his usual play and was outperformed by his matchups as a result.
The fourth-year center didn’t have a poor stat line by any means. He finished with eight points, 11 rebounds, and a game-high four blocks.
Despite these solid numbers, however, he just couldn’t prevent Nathan Knight and Greg Monroe from eating him up inside.
Knight finished with 20 points and 11 boards, both of which are well above his season averages of 2.6 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. He got all of his looks around the rim and Time Lord didn’t make his presence felt as much as he should have.
As for former Boston Celtics big Greg Monroe, he looked phenomenal in his first game back after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus. He did a little bit of everything for the Wolves and flirted with a triple-double, as he posted11 points, nine rebounds, and six assists were crucial to the team’s second-half comeback.
It isn’t entirely fair to put all the blame on Williams III here, but the C’s have grown accustomed to a certain level of play from him that he just couldn’t match tonight.
Knight and Monroe both played outstanding games but realistically Williams should dominate those matchups on both ends of the floor so it was a disappointing performance from the fourth-year center to say the least.